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Mat Latos took a knee in the on-deck circle, waiting to step to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning. But with the Padres down 6-0 to Atlanta on Wednesday, manager Bud Black opted for a pinch hitter.

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Frustrated, Latos slammed the knob of his bat to the ground, knocking off the weighted doughnut.

His day was done. His losing streak was not.

The Padres dropped a 7-0 defeat to Atlanta before 20,026 sun-splashed fans at Petco Park, concluding a miserable 1-6 homestand. They scored 10 runs in the seven games. They were shut out three times.

They’re 6-14 in their last 20 games. At 9-16, they own the worst record in the major leagues.

“Things just aren’t going well,” said outfielder Will Venable.

As for Latos (0-4), he absorbed another loss. The 23-year-old who at one time last season was a Cy Young Award candidate has lost nine consecutive starts dating to 2010, tying a club record.

Andy Benes lost nine straight starts from September 1993 to April 1994. Dennis Rasmussen lost nine straight in 1991.

Latos’ statistical line Wednesday was not completely ugly. He pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and six runs, five of which were unearned due to a second-inning Brad Hawpe error.

Latos, though, didn’t minimize the damage after Hawpe’s mistake.

A replay: With Braves runners on second and third, Martin Prado hit a grounder to Hawpe’s left. The ball got under his glove for a two-base error. Two runs scored.

“I didn’t make the play,” said Hawpe, who was sarcastically cheered later in the game for making routine plays.

Latos proceeded to give up three straight hits: a Jason Heyward single, a Chipper Jones triple to center and a Brian McCann double to right.

It went from 3-0 to 6-0 to over, given the Padres’ offense.

Afterward, Latos, who dropped to 18-19 on his career, talked as if he had turned a corner.

“I feel fine,” he said. “I only gave up one earned run. Another positive is I didn’t give up a home run.”

In his first three starts, covering 16 2/3 innings, Latos allowed nine walks and five homers. He gave up one walk Wednesday.

Pitching coach Darren Balsley and Black were more objective about Latos’ performance.

“Obviously, early, he was erratic. And sporadic,” Balsley said.

“He couldn’t string pitches together,” Black said. “We’ve seen that this year, just the inconsistency from pitch to pitch.”

From June 10 to Sept. 7 last year, Latos was one of baseball’s best pitchers. He strung together a major league record 15 straight starts in which he allowed two runs or fewer while pitching a minimum of five innings.

He was 9-1 during the stretch with a 1.49 ERA. He was the young, 6-foot-6 gunslinger, punctuating the end of innings by leaping over the foul line.